NICOLE ARI PARKER

I believe that we have to be so race-conscious in this day and age.

Nobody can tell you how to be a good wife or husband.

We're all moving at such a high rate that we have to grab the frozen dinners and the McDonald's. We can't make it a way of life - we have to get back to real, simple, clean good foods. It will save our lives on so many levels; not just spina bifida, but obesity, diabetes, everything. Food is our medicine.

Between the kids, the jobs and everything, no matter what color you are, cardio is probably not on the top of your list.

Spina bifida affects every single aspect of your life, from your child's self-esteem to your ability to sleep at night.

Exercise is about being grateful for the body you have and sustaining the life you have.

I went to an all-girls private school, where we played field hockey and lacrosse.

You think you need the newest shoe and the newest outfit. We forget exercising is free. We forget it only takes a little bit every day.

Honestly, working with Eddie Murphy was mind-blowing just in terms of the budget alone. To see the respect he commands, to witness his presence, you understand why he and people like Martin Lawrence are stars.

I have friends struggling with autism, juvenile diabetes.

Every parent knows this moment in a child's age when he or she needs your attention in a very specific way because it's the beginning and ending of the early life of imagination. It's such a responsibility.

It's not how pretty you are or how talented you are. It's that if these five people on this day in this room like you, then you get a job.

Take all the hype out of the exercise and think of it as brushing your teeth.

I just want to touch something deep in the heart of humanity. I don't know if that's in movies, producing films, or writing a book, but I'm concerned about our spiritual well-being as a human race. I want to impact people in a way that makes us all reach for our best.

Not just as a black woman, but as a woman, since the beginning of time, beauty has been our responsibility.

Being a parent is the hardest job ever in life.

You have to work hard not to take your partner for granted, even when you are tired.

Any actor will tell you that you go where the work is, especially when you have children.

If you're actually talking to someone who's been through a disastrous number of years, that only means one thing: They survived it.

I think 'Soul Food' had the biggest impact on me because that's where I was really able to shine as an actress and because I also met my husband there, and that was a huge turning point in my personal life. So, that show will stick with me forever and ever and ever.

A guy once told me that I sound like I'm a little ahead of myself. I can't wait to thank him at the Oscars.

All kids want from their dad is for them to be around - and to show up when they say they're going to show up.

Hair is an issue for most women, and after washing, blow-drying, flat-ironing, curling, braiding, twisting and spending the time and money on it, who wants to mess it up by sweating and having to do it all over again?

There are so many things that go into a surgical study.

I'm really into nutrition from the inside out.